Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in England have been notified that they are eligible for a COVID-19 booster vaccine.

Lord Kamall: The first COVID-19 booster vaccine was administered on 16 September and as of 20 September 2021, over 1.5 million people in England were invited to receive their vaccine.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce a COVID Pass Service for British citizens who have been vaccinated abroad.

Lord Kamall: Work is underway to input eligible British citizens’ overseas vaccination data into the existing NHS COVID Pass. The system will only record vaccines that we are confident to recognise. A solution is being launched in England as a pilot from the end of September.

Healthy Start Scheme

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to expand Healthy Start eligibility to all households earning £20,000 or less after benefits which include pregnant women or children under five.

Lord Kamall: There are no current plans to change eligibility for the scheme. The Healthy Start scheme is kept under continuous review and aligns closely with other passported benefits

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Blunkett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bethell on 15 September (HL2404), what steps they are taking to support primary care services in England offering both (1) initial COVID-19 vaccinations, and (2) the COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Lord Kamall: To ensure the vaccination programme is delivered sustainably, NHS England and NHS Improvement recommended that local health systems should spread capacity across community pharmacy, vaccination centres and general practice. Additional funding has been made available to support general practices to deliver the COVID-19 vaccination programme, including for the Primary Care Network (PCN) Clinical Director role and incentives to support vaccination programme delivery goals.Throughout the vaccination programme, providers have been able to access centrally sourced workforce, including unregistered vaccinators through the lead employer model, using a national protocol as appropriate to support vaccination delivery. This workforce offer is continuing in the autumn booster programme and includes volunteers.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to work with (1) the Northern Ireland Executive, (2) the Scottish Government, and (3) the Welsh Government, to ensure cooperation between the COVID Pass Services in each constituent part of the UK; and in particular to coordinate arrangements for people who have had one dose of the vaccine in one constituent part of the UK and the other dose in another.

Lord Kamall: We regularly engage with the devolved administrations to ensure NHS COVID Pass interoperability. Bi-directional live vaccine data flows have been established by NHS Digital with Wales and Scotland, which update both general practitioner records and NHS COVID Pass status. There is currently no data sharing process in place with Northern Ireland, although we are aiming to put this in place as soon as possible.

Protective Clothing: Imports

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports in The Diplomaton 14 September,what assessment they have made of the alleged use of forced labour in Malaysian disposable glove factories; and what due diligence they carried out in relation to the use of forced labour before purchasing disposable gloves from Malaysian companies earlier this year.

Lord Kamall: To date, there have been no substantiated allegations of modern slavery in relation to a Departmental supplier. All the suppliers on our current gloves framework are registered and have been asked to complete a Modern Slavery Assessment and a Labour Standards Assessment.Due diligence is carried out for all Government contracts and we expect all National Health Service suppliers to follow the highest legal and ethical standards. Public sector contracting authorities are advised on how to assess suppliers to mitigate the risk of modern slavery. Contracts are placed in line with Departmental terms and conditions which include clauses requiring Good Industry Practice to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in supply chains. Suppliers appointed to NHS Supply Chain frameworks must comply with the Labour Standards Assurance System or they can be removed from consideration for future opportunities.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow GP surgeries to issue COVID Passes to those who are unable to use the website, app or telephone services.

Lord Kamall: We have no plans to do so. However, we are exploring interoperability with third-party general practitioner apps which comply with our robust data protection and security commitments.

Coronavirus: Screening

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the basecost for a COVID-19 PCR test.

Lord Kamall: We are unable to provide the information requested as it is commercially sensitive.

Coronavirus: Screening

Lord Mawson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what evidence they have, if any, that businesses have been overcharging for COVID-19 PCR tests.

Lord Kamall: The Department has received no such evidence.

Health Professions: Training

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase investment in the medical workforce to fund (1) foundation programmes, and (2) specialty training places.

Lord Kamall: The forthcoming Spending Review will set out further details of the Government’s spending plans for the National Health Service workforce.

NHS: Management Consultants

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manymanagement consultants have been employed by the NHS at annual equivalent salaries exceeding £100,000 in each of the last five years.

Lord Kamall: This data requested is not held centrally.